Natalie Adan, Division Director, Food Safety Division, Georgia Department of Agriculture
Natalie Adan is originally from Atlanta, GA and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Georgia Southern University. Natalie works for the Georgia Department of Agriculture as the Food Safety Division Director. As the Division Director, she oversees manufactured food, retail food, dairy, and farm safety programs.
Natalie is committed to helping develop and implement a fully integrated food safety system rooted in public health principles and focused on prevention. She completed the International Food Protection Training Institute’s Fellowship in Food Protection Program in 2011 and actively participates in many food safety associations. In 2017, she received the Eugene H. Holeman Award for her valuable contribution to food, drug, cosmetic and consumer products in administration and enforcement.
Patricia L. Alcock, Director, Office of Training Education and Development, Office of Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Patricia L. Alcock is the Director of the ORA’s Office of Training Education and Development (OTED). OTED's primary role is to analyze, design, develop, implement and evaluate adult education, training, development and certification programs for FDA ORA employees as well as with our State regulatory partners. Ms. Alcock has been with the FDA since receiving her B.A. from Lycoming College in 1989 and has multi-district and multi-Center experience at FDA. She served as an FDA Investigator in two ORA Districts for 7 years, a Compliance Officer in CDER’s Office of Compliance for 3 years, and has been in a management role with the FDA since 1999. She has received many FDA level awards for her contribution to public health protection.
Jennifer Bonsky, MFRPS Coordinator and RRT Specialist, Food and Dairy Division, Michigan Department Of Agriculture And Rural Development
Jennifer Bonsky started with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in 1999 as a Food Inspector in the metro-Detroit area. In 2008, Jennifer became involved in the MFRPS program and began serving as the Food Safety Specialist on the Michigan Rapid Response Team. Jennifer continues to serve as an MI RRT member and co-leads the MDARD’s Multi-Divisional Emergency Management Senior working group in their efforts to provide field-appropriate training, conduct exercises, and serve as state-wide resources during emergency responses. In 2018, Jennifer became the Lead MFRPS Coordinator for MDARD Food Program.
Ellen Buchanan, Director, Audit Staff, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Ellen Buchanan is a graduate of Oregon State University with a B.S. in Food Science. She worked in the seafood and fruit and vegetable processing industries prior to joining the Oregon Department of Agriculture in 1999. She was a Food Program Manager for the Department's Food Safety Division for over ten years and a 2006 graduate of the Leadership Oregon program. Ellen is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist.
Ellen has served on the Western Association of Food and Drug Officials (WAFDO) Board of Directors as the Liaison to the AFDO (Association of Food and Drug Officials) Board of Directors, served as co-editor of the WAFDO newsletter (WAFDO Flash) and is resigned as the Past President for WAFDO. Ellen has served on the AFDO Board as the Secretary/Treasurer, and in the office of vice President and President elect. She has been an active WAFDO and AFDO member since 2002, and has co-chaired the AFDO Retail Food, Field and Food Committees.
In January 2010, Ellen moved to Washington DC to work for the FDA, in the Division of Federal State Relations. She stood up the Standards Development and Implementation Team. She currently is the Director of the Audit Staff working with Domestic food and feed regulatory programs, Third party Certification and Systems Recognition with Foreign Governments.
Over the years Ellen has been involved in CFP, Oregon Health Licensing, Institute of Food Technologists, NSF Food Safety Leadership Awards, Grosvenor Award, Oregon Food Service Advisory Committee, Oregon State Fruit and Vegetable Advisory Committee and a WHO journey to CNMI territory to instruct on bottled water and drinking water.
For fun, Ellen volunteers at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the American Museum of Art. She is a docent at the David Owsley Museum of Art and the Rinard Orchid Greenhouse.
Donald Burr, Health Scientist Officer, Office of Regulatory Science, Office of Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
I am a Health Scientist Officer in the Office of Regulatory Science, Office of Regulatory Affairs, FDA. I serve as the ORA/ORS Business Lead for the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model. Additional duties all center around the FDA/State Mutual Reliance initiatives supporting the development of the national integrated food and feed safety system.
Wendy Campbell, Human and Animal Food Branch Chief, Office of Partnerships, Division of Partnership Investments & Agreements, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Wendy Campbell is the Human and Animal Food Branch Chief in the Office of Partnerships, Division of Partnership Investments & Agreements. Prior to joining FDA, she worked for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services as the Food Defense Coordinator and Principal Investigator for the RRT cooperative agreement.
Barbara Cassens, Director, Office of Partnerships, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Barbara Cassens is the Director for the Office of Partnerships (OP). In her role as the Director of OP, she is responsible for the oversight, strategic planning, collaboration and integration with our federal, state, and local, partners, for manufactured human and animal food safety standards.
Barbara began her career with the FDA in 1990 as a field investigator and the Pacific Region Cooperative Programs Director. Eventually, she became San Francisco’s District Director. Prior to joining the FDA, she worked in the private sector for Nestle, Dole Packaged Foods, and John Labatt, LLC.
Ms. Cassens holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Iowa State University. She is active in the Western Association of Food and Drug Officials, the Association of Food and Drug Officials, the Institute of Food Technologists and the International Association for Food Protection.
Erin Woodom-Coleman, Project Manager, Office of Partnerships, Division of Partnership Investments and Agreements, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Erin Woodom-Coleman started her career at FDA in 2012 in the Baltimore District as an Emergency Response Coordinator. Most recently, she has served as a Project Manager in the Office of Partnerships, Division of Partnership Investments and Agreements, managing state laboratory projects in the areas of human food testing, whole genome sequencing, ISO 17025 accreditation, and Food Emergency Response. In addition, Erin is also the business lead for the Electronic States’ Access to FACTS (eSAF) application which is used to enter state contract inspectional data.
William A. Correll, Jr., Director, Office of Compliance, Office of Food and Veterinary Medicine, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Since the fall of 2014, Bill Correll has served as Director of the CFSAN’s Office of Compliance. He provides leadership in food compliance and enforcement operations and policies, work planning and logistics, special field assignments, and other programmatic activities. The compliance office within the center is the primary interface between the Center’s scientists and policy experts and the FDA’s field staff in the Office of Regulatory Affairs and the Office of Chief Counsel. He is engaged in numerous aspects of FDA’s implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and its implementing regulations and programs. He has extensive experience in FDA regulatory activities in preventing, detecting and responding to varied biological or chemical hazards in the global food supply. Mr. Correll joined FDA in 1990 in ORA’s Philadelphia District Office and has served in various regulatory positions in CFSAN’s compliance office since 1994. He is a graduate of University of Maryland.
Guy Delius, R.S., Consumer Safety Officer, Division of Standards Implementation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Consumer Safety Officer: FDA’s Division of Standards Implementation - Manufactured Foods Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) Specialist, based in Louisville, KY.
Joined FDA Division of Federal State Relations/Office of Partnerships in December 2010 -Prior to FDA, Guy was the Director for KY State Health Environmental Health Division
Accomplishments:
President of AFDOSS
President of the Kentucky Public Health Association
President of the Kentucky Association of Milk, Food and Environmental Sanitarians.
Health Cabinet’s representative and Chairman for the KY Registered Sanitarian (R.S.) Examining Committee
KY Health Cabinet’s representative to the State Emergency Operations Center
Previous AFDO Board of Directors and Executive Board
MaryBeth DeMarco, OutbreakNet Enhanced (OBNE) Epidemiologist, Office of Epidemiology, Division of Surveillance and Investigation, Virginia Department of Health (VDH)
MaryBeth DeMarco serves as the OutbreakNet Enhanced (OBNE) Epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Epidemiology, Division of Surveillance and Investigation. As a member of the Foodborne Disease Epidemiology Team, MaryBeth coordinates the monitoring and reporting of foodborne and communicable disease outbreaks to the CDC National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS). She also aids in the investigations of whole genome sequencing (WGS) enteric disease clusters throughout Virginia, as well as assists the regional and local health district epidemiologist’s investigations of foodborne and communicable disease outbreaks by gathering data, case finding, and reporting outbreaks. She is a member of the Virginia Rapid Response Team. MaryBeth’s role has allowed her the opportunity to work on a variety of special projects including: Crafting #FoodSaftyFridays social media messages that are posted on various VDH social media accounts every Friday, editing a video for Patient Instructions for Stool Collection that was posted on the VDH YouTube channel, designing a magnet with a Quick Response (QR) code to promote VDH’s public facing online foodborne complaint system, My Meal Detective, and most recently, coordinating the VDH Hepatitis A Pandora Radio Campaign. MaryBeth graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Science and Psychology. Her professional interests include communicable disease epidemiology, chronic disease management, health communication, and public health informatics.
Omari Fennell, Partner Outreach Coordinator, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Data Exchange (DX) Program, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Omari Fennell is the Partner Outreach Coordinator for the FDA ORA Data Exchange (DX) Program. He supports regulatory partner outreach, onboarding and other related activities. Mr. Fennell has been part of the DX program for almost three years and has a good understanding of program aspects relevant to regulatory partners. Prior to ORA OISM, he served as a project manager and business analyst at GEICO and Booz Allen Hamilton on various projects. His primary focus throughout his career has been assisting and leading teams dedicated to developing innovative technologies. He has won various awards for technical innovations, collaboration and marketing. Email: omari.fennell@fda.hhs.gov; Tel: 703-200-1858.
Phillip Fruechting, Section Chief – Wholesale/Manufactured Foods, Arkansas Department of Health
Phillip Fruechting, R.S., is the Program Section Chief for the Arkansas Department of Health’s (ADH) Wholesale/Manufactured Foods program. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Agricultural, Food & Life Sciences from the University of Arkansas with a major in Agricultural Education, Communication and Technology and a minor in Animal Science. The Wholesale/Manufactured Foods section is one of many programs under the Environmental Health Protection Branch of the Arkansas Department of Health. The program provides direct services throughout Arkansas to wholesale/manufactured food establishments as well as conducting inspections under FDA contract. He has been with ADH Health since 2011 and has managed the wholesale/manufactured foods program since the agency enrolled in Manufactured Foods Regulatory Program Standards in 2012. He started his career as a Registered Sanitarian for the City of Dallas, TX conducting retail food inspections. He helped develop and served as lead instructor for the City of Dallas’ Food Handlers safety course. After leaving Dallas, he worked as a Registered Sanitarian for the City of McKinney, TX inspecting food service establishments and swimming pools. He is a member of Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO); serves as current President on the Mid-Continental Association of Food and Drug Officials board (MCAFDO); is the MCAFDO representative on the Manufactured Foods Regulatory Program Alliance Board; is a member of the Partnership for Food Protection’s Information & Technology workgroup and is the current Secretary for the Arkansas Society of Professional Sanitarians. He also serves as the ADH’s Representative to the Arkansas State Committee of Plumbing Examiners.
Steve Fuller, Assistant Director for Food Safety and Consumer Services, Washington Department of Agriculture Steve Fuller is the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Assistant Director for Food Safety and Consumer Services. The division he leads regulates a wide variety of food production and processing operations, provides organic certification services, laboratory services, and administers public support for food banks and pantries. He previously served as a policy advisor in the Director’s Office, where he championed legislative initiatives, budget requests, and challenging public policy issues. Before joining the Director’s Office, Steve built WSDA’s first food emergency response team, where he focused on improving speed and accuracy. At the Washington Department of Health, he trained the state’s retail food safety inspectors and gave technical advice on regulatory issues. He has a master’s degree in public health from UCLA.
Daniel Gaines, Food Administrator, Food and Drug Protection Division, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Daniel Gaines works for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Food and Drug Protection Division (NCDA&CS FDPD) where he is the Food Administrator. He is responsible for all aspects of the Food program to include inspections, compliance, enforcement and response activities. Prior to his current position he served as the Compliance and Response Administrator for NCDA&CS FDPD. He worked in private industry prior to joining NCDA&CS FDPD and held various roles in food safety and quality assurance.
Graham N. Giesen, Project Manager (Public Health Advisor), Division of Partnership Investments and Agreements, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Graham Nathanael Giesen served 17-months in Baghdad, Iraq with the 1st Armored Division (while stationed in Friedberg/Giessen, Germany). Upon return from deployment, he reclassified his occupation and completed a year-long training to become a Biomedical Equipment Repair Technician, ultimately specializing in diagnostic imaging systems, and attained the Certified Radiological Equipment Specialist (CRES) designation through the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Upon completion of military service, Graham served as a Radiation Equipment Specialist III for the Legacy Health System hospital network throughout and around Portland, Oregon.
Graham began with FDA in 2008. He has held positions as a food and medical device investigator, Level II Medical Device Investigator, member of the Foreign Cadre, supervisor, and program manager for multiple programs. He started with the Office of Partnerships in 2013 managing, writing, and executing multiple grant programs. Graham enjoys intellectual pursuits as well as outdoor adventures and a healthy appreciation of the arts. Graham has two young sons, Liam and Callum, and resides near Seattle, Washington.
Odeisa Hichez, Supervising Food Inspector, Food Safety Division, New York Department of Agriculture and Markets
Odeisa Hichez was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, where she also graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 1993. In that same year, Odeisa moved to the U.S. and pursued a second Bachelor of Science in Biology, minoring in Chemistry, from The City University of New York (CUNY) Hunter College.
In March 2002, Odeisa began working for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) as a Food Inspector 1. In 2018 she became a Supervising Food Inspector 2. During her 18 year career as a food inspector for NYS, Odeisa has conducted numerous inspections at retail and wholesale level, including Seafood and Juice Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Low-Acid Canned Foods (LACF), acidified, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contract, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) contract, and live poultry custom slaughterhouses. Additionally, she has been involved in traceback of several class one recalls, which were performed jointly with other government agencies. For the past year she has been working on helping to upgrade the inspection program deficiencies for NYS Agriculture & Markets to include PC regulation. She is also an IFPTI Fellow Cohort 6 where she conducted a research on Commercial Kitchens which was published on the 2016 AFDO journal. Along with these achievements, Odeisa has received several outstanding performance awards at the department’s annual inspector’s update.
Odeisa is an active member of Central Atlantic States Association of Food and Drug Officials (CASA) where she is currently President of the New York chapter. In addition to her duties as a Food Inspector, Ms. Hichez enjoys time with her family, puzzles, reading and hiking the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area.
Catherine Hosman, Project Officer, Office of Partnerships, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Cathy has been a Project Officer in ORA’s Office of Partnerships since June 2013 managing the State Contract Audit Program and multi-year cooperative agreements associated with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards. She also serves as the Business Lead on the State Contract Inspection Program Improvement (SCIPI) project, which is designed to address gaps identified in recent internal and external assessments of the contract inspection and audit programs.
Prior to joining the Office of Partnerships, Cathy held the positions of Quality Systems Manager and Management and Program Analyst at FDA’s New England District office located in Stoneham, MA, where she designed and implemented the quality management system for the district and implemented numerous process improvement processes.
She is a Certified Project Manager, Certified Manager for Quality and Organizational Excellence, and Certified Quality Auditor.
Vinetta Howard-King, Director, Office of Human and Animal Food Operations – East, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Vinetta Howard-King is the director of the Office of Human and Animal Food Operations – East, a program within the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this role, Ms. Howard-King is responsible for overseeing operational functions (such as: inspections/investigations, sample collections, compliance and enforcement activities) in six HAF field divisions and the HAF foreign inspection program.
She works directly with senior management in headquarters and in the field, using strategic risk-based approaches towards compliance and enforcement that focuses on impact and results.
A few of her previous positions include senior advisor to the assistant commissioner for operations in ORA, deputy director and staff manager in FDA’s Office of Emergency Operations, compliance officer in FDA’s Baltimore District, and chemist in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. She has served as acting manager in numerous leadership positions in FDA, including lab supervisor, district director, deputy office director, office director, and regional food and drug director. Ms. Howard-King holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a minor in chemistry.
Dr. Maria Ishida, Director, Division of Food Laboratory, New York Department of Agriculture and Markets
Dr. Maria Ishida is the Director of Division of Food Laboratory under the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets. Before moving to Albany NY, she was the Bureau Chief of Food Laboratories under the Division of Food Safety, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Dr. Ishida earned her Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Brazil in 2002, and before joining the Florida’s Food Laboratories in 2007, she worked on a project at University of Florida involving grapevine disease. She is very active on several public health workgroups and committees such as Food Emergency Response Network (FERN), FDA, APHL, and AFDO as subject expert manner.
Catherine Johnson, Director of Training and Workforce Development, Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)
I am the Director of Training and Workforce Development at the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). In my time with APHL, I have worked on more than150 learning activities such as symposia, in person workshops, online and web-based courses, seminars, webinars and job-aids/learning materials for public health laboratory professionals and leadership. I am trained as a meeting facilitator and personal coach. University of Maryland alumni!
Jan L. Kelly, Manufactured Food Program Manager, Food and Feed Safety Division, MN Department of Agriculture
Jan Kelly has been with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) since October 1990. Her current role is as the Manufactured Food Program Manager. She leads Department staff in the implementation of the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards and ensures the programs on-going conformance. She provides oversight for the negotiation and execution of the FDA Food Inspection Contract. Their Division and Program goals include working cooperatively with state and federal partners in establishing an integrated food safety system and ensuring Minnesota retains its position as a national leader in food safety. Prior to her current position, she worked as a Field Inspection Supervisor, Rapid Response Team Supervisor, and as a lead inspector where she worked on a number of projects including implementing a formal training program for food inspection staff. Jan is a new member of the MFRPA Board of Directors representing the North Central region and is the co-lead for Partnership for Protection (PFP) Work Planning, Inspections and Compliance Workgroup.
Jan feels very fortunate to live on a small acreage in SW MN with her husband Mark and a menagerie of animals. But Jan does NOT like baling hay and she also no longer likes winter.
Patrick Kennelly, Program Director, Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO)
Patrick Kennelly is a Program Director for the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), and currently manages the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Alliance Cooperative Agreement. Prior to joining AFDO, Patrick worked for the California Department of Public Health for 28 years. Prior to his retirement from CDPH, Patrick was the Chief of the Food Safety Section and was responsible for overseeing the Department’s statewide food safety operations which include inspection and investigation of processed food manufacturers, distributors, water bottling plants and vended water operations; investigation of food-borne illness outbreaks, food contamination and tampering events, and food recalls; and development and delivery of food safety education to the food processing industry. Patrick has directed and overseen numerous complex food-borne illness outbreak investigations, environmental investigations, tracebacks, and food recalls during his tenure.
Patrick previously served as a member of the California Food and Agriculture Defense Steering Committee and the California Organic Advisory Board. Patrick has previously served as the President of the Western Association of Food and Drug Officials (WAFDO) and served on the Board as a Member at Large in 2016 and 2017. Patrick also served as an Advisory Board Member for the Western Institutes for Food Safety and Security, and as an Advisory Board Member for the Center for Produce Safety.
Patrick currently serves as a Governing Council Member and Co-Chair for FDA’s Partnership for Food Protection (PFP).
Davonna Koebrick, LMSW, RS, MFRPS Coordinator, Consumer Protection, Texas Department of State Health Services
Davonna Koebrick has been in the field of public health for 19 years and a Registered Sanitarian since 2002. She worked at a local health department for 4 years as a retail food establishment inspector and as the On-Site Sewage Facility Coordinator. She began working as a Texas Department of State Health Services manufactured foods sanitarian in 2004. She was an inspector for 9 1/2 years and then a compliance officer in the manufactured foods Policy, Standards and Quality Assurance group for 5 years. She stepped into the position of Food Safety Officer and Manufactured Foods Regulatory Program Standards Coordinator on November 1, 2018.
Laci Langford, Inspections Unit, Foods Group East, Texas Department Of State Health Services
Laci Langford is a Sanitarian II for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Manufactured Foods Group. She has been an inspector at DSHS for six years, and a Registered Sanitarian for four of those years. She was able to hire as a Sanitarian-in-Training to gain experience, and upgrade to a Registered Sanitarian.
Laci Graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. She enjoys offshore fishing as a hobby with her family.
Zachary Lau, Microbiologist, Animal Disease Research & Diagnostic Lab Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences Department, South Dakota State University
Zach Lau is a microbiologist at South Dakota State University Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences Department. Zach works in the Food Safety Section of the Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ADRDL). He began working in Food Safety in 2016 where he is primarily responsible for research testing. Prior to the Food Safety Section, Zach worked in a few sections of the ADRDL as a Laboratory Technician.
Dana Lewis, a Compliance Officer with the US Food and Drug Administration
I am Dana Lewis, a Compliance Officer with the US Food and Drug Administration. I have been in my current position for one and a half years. I was previously an FDA Consumer Safety Officer in foods for four years. I previously worked as a Food Inspector with the Texas Department of State Health Services for 6 years. I previously worked as a Food Inspector with the Waco-McClennan County Public Health District for two years performing pool, grocery store, convenience store, and childcare inspections. I worked for a year with Pilgrim’s Pride, Waco, TX as a Production Supervisor in a further processing poultry processing facility. I interned with Sanderson Farms, Hammond, LA for three months in a poultry slaughter facility. I graduated from the Louisiana State University in 2014 with majors in Animal Science and General Studies with minors in Political Science, Psychology, and Chemistry.
Mei-Ying Li, Captain, U.S. Public Health Service, Project Manager, Office of Partnerships
Captain Mei-Ying Li currently works as a project officer, having managed State Egg Safety, Medical Device contracts and the Egg Safety Regulatory Program Standards Development cooperative agreement in the Office of Partnerships, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2008. Over the past 12 years, she oversaw different contract programs in addition to Egg and Device contracts such as Feed, Mammography, and Milk Drug Residue Database Management programs. Prior to joining the FDA, Captain Li managed grant programs in the HIV/AIDS Bureau, Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) from 2002 to 2008.
Captain Li started her nursing career in China and continued in that field after relocating to New York City. She worked as a med-surge nurse mostly in teaching hospitals both in China and the United States. Following decades of clinical experience, in 2002 she was commissioned into the United States Public Health Service. In the Service, she serves as a nurse officer, including during many deployment on notable occasions such as Hurricanes Sandy, Ike, and Katrina, as well as for Presidential Inaugurations. She holds a Bachelor in Nursing and a Master's in Public Health. She currently lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
Sharon Lindan Mayl, J.D., Senior Advisor for Policy, Office of Food Policy and Response at FDA
Sharon has been with FDA for 25 years and currently serves as the Senior Advisor for Policy to the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response. In this position, she oversees and manages significant policy initiatives related to food safety. Among other issues, Ms. Mayl is the lead for the foods program on issues related to cannabis and co-chairs the Marijuana Working Group at FDA. She has also focused on implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), playing a lead role in the development and implementation of the import provisions, including the the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, Voluntary Qualified Import Program, and Accredited Third-Party Certification Program. In addition, Ms. Mayl currently serves as the lead for the New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative being developed by FDA. Ms. Mayl is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Law School. Prior to joining the agency, she worked first in private practice and then for a public interest advocacy group on foods issues.
Pam Miles, Program Supervisor, Food Safety Program, for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Pam Miles is currently the Program Supervisor for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Food Safety Program. In her current position, she directs a statewide Food Safety Program; providing supervision, direction and support to all Program staff including Food Safety Specialists who are responsible for the inspection and ongoing monitoring of all food manufacturers, food retailers and warehouses in the Commonwealth. She has worked for the VDACS Food Safety Program for thirty one years. She was employed initially as a Food Safety Specialist, then as a Regional Manager and now functions in her current role as the Program Supervisor. Before her work with the state she worked in the food industry for six years in quality control for Kraft Foods and for a Dairy fluid milk plant. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Food Science from Purdue University. She served as President for the Association of Food and Drug Officials in 2017-18.
Steve Moris, Program Manager, Division of Food Safety and Lodging, Kansas Department of Agriculture
Steve Moris is the Program Manager for the Division of Food Safety and Lodging at the Kansas Department of Agriculture. He has been with the program since 2006. The Food Safety Division is responsible for licensing and inspecting over 16,000 food establishments, food manufacturers, food storage, and lodging facilities. Prior to his work at the Department of Agriculture he spent 16 years working for the Kroger Company in positions ranging from the front-end clerk to store manager. In addition to the work Steve does to protect public safety in the state of Kansas he serves on numerous AFDO, CFP, and PFP committees. He is the past President and current director at large for the MCAFDO board. Steve is currently the President Elect for the AFDO Executive Board, a member of the FSPCA Steering Committee, and SW Region State Representative to the CFP Board. Steve and his wife Holly have two wonderful sons, Blake who is a civil engineering masters student at Kansas State University and Evan who is a High School junior. In his free time he enjoys attending Kansas State University sporting events, refurbishing furniture, and is involved in Evan’s rowing club by being on the Manhattan Junior Crew and the Kansas State Rowing Association boards.
Cassie Mueller, MFRPS Coordinator, Food and Feed Safety Division, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Cassie Mueller started in the role of Food Standards Coordinator for the MN Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) Food & Feed Safety Division in March 2016. She began her career at MDA in 2009 as a Food Inspector. Cassie currently coordinates work for both the MFRPS and the Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (RFRPS). She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition from the University of MN-Twin Cities and is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist. During her time as the Food Standards Coordinator, she has enjoyed being able to interact with a wide variety of people, both internal and external to MDA. Through the dedicated work of the MFRPS team, MDA has successfully achieved and maintained conformance with all 10 standards during the last two FDA Assessments (2017 and 2019). In her downtime, Cassie enjoys camping trips with her husband and four kids.
Helen Murphy, Research Microbiologist, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Helen Murphy is a research microbiologist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in the Office of Applied Research and Safety Assessment. She is a member of the parasitology research team and her work at the FDA focuses on development, validation and implementation of improved methods to detect Cyclospora cayetanensis in foods and water. She serves on the FDA Foods Program Microbiological Method Validation Subcommittee which provides guidance and oversight to all FDA validation studies for detection of microbial pathogens. She is also a member of the training cadre for Foodborne Parasites in the Office of Regulatory Affairs, which is responsible for training analysts assigned to test FDA-regulated products for foodborne and waterborne parasites.
Ronald Pace, Program Division Director, Office of Human and Animal Food Operations East Division 1, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Ronald Pace is currently the Program Division Director for the Office of Human and Animal Food Operations East Division 1. His division covers the New York and New England states. Prior to his current position he served as FDA’s New York District Director. He also served as the Product Adulteration Branch Chief in CFSAN’s Office of Compliance/Division of Enforcement for over 5 years focusing on the regulatory compliance of imported foods, dietary supplements and cosmetics. He began his FDA career in FDA’s Northeast Regional Laboratory where he served as a food microbiologist and subsequently as a microbiology supervisor.
Dr. Pamboukian, Food Safety Regulatory Scientist and Program Lead, Office of Regulatory Affair, Office of Regulatory Science, US Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Pamboukian is a Food Safety Regulatory Scientist and Program Lead at the US Food and Drug Administration, Office of Regulatory Affair, Office of Regulatory Science. Her leaderships include developing and leading the FDA/ORS laboratory accreditation program to promote and support laboratory accreditation for state regulatory food/feed testing laboratories. She is also a co-lead for the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Microbiology Cooperative Program (MCAP).
Niket Parikh, Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Information Systems and Management, Office of Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Niket Parikh is a Senior Technical Advisor supporting strategic initiatives for the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) Office of Information Systems and Management (OISM) from 2016. Prior to ORA OISM, he served as a Senior Technical Advisor and Architect across multiple federal agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Veterans Affairs (VA) and other civilian agencies. Mr. Parikh has advised and managed large IT modernization efforts and supported the development of strategic solutions within the healthcare domain. Email: niket.parikh@fda.hhs.gov; Tel: 443-254-3783.
Jocelyn Ramos, Project Manager, Office of Partnerships, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Jocelyn Ramos has been with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more than 17 years. Primarily her career has been involved as a field investigator inspecting and investigating manufacturers of medical devices, food product and imported products. She had the opportunity to conduct inspections both domestically and internationally. Ms. Ramos has been with the Office of Partnerships since 2014 and currently serves as a Project Manager. Ms. Ramos manages various state contract programs and cooperative agreement programs which include medical devices, animal derived foods and human food products. She is a certified Contracting Officer Representative ensuring contractors meet the obligations on their contracts and the deliverables are within performance standards. She provides technical expertise as a subject matter expert to state regulatory partners as it relates to policy in both contracts and cooperative agreements. She evaluates the performance of state regulatory programs are compliant with the agency’s regulations. Currently, she is responsible for managing the Flexible Funding Model Cooperative Agreement Program and the Drug Residue Prevention Program Cooperative Agreement.
Yvonne Salfinger, Association of Food and Drug Officials
Yvonne Salfinger is a microbiologist with 38 years of experience, initially working for the Bureau of Public Health Laboratories, Florida Department of Health for 20 years, working primarily with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. She became the Chief for the Bureau of Food Laboratories, Division of Food Safety, with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in 2003. She went to the Division of Food Safety initially as the Quality Manager to pursue ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for the Division laboratories in 2002, which was accomplished in 2007. She was also involved with the Food Emergency Response Network, working on several activities involving analysis of foods during emergency events. Since retiring from the State of Florida in 2012, she has been a consultant on a FDA cooperative agreement to assist with the implementation of ISO/IEC 17025 across the regulatory food testing laboratories in the US. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University, and pursued graduate studies at the University of South Florida and University of North Florida.
Kimberly Stryker, MFRPA Chair, Food Safety and Sanitation Program Manager, Division of Environmental Health, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Kimberly Stryker is the Manager of the Alaska Food Safety and Sanitation program. The Food Safety and Sanitation program provides direct services throughout Alaska to food establishments (retail and manufactured food), seafood and shellfish processors, and operators of general sanitation facilities ranging from pools and spas to hair and body art schools and shops. Alaska enrolled in the Voluntary Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards in January 2006 and the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards in July 2008. She is MFRPA Chair of the MFRP Alliance and is a member of AFDO.
Alan Tart, Deputy Director, Office of Partnerships, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Alan Tart is the Deputy Director of the Office of Partnerships, an office within FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs. As Deputy Director, Alan provides executive-level management, programmatic, and operational leadership, direction, and guidance to the Office of Partnerships, including the Division of Integration, Division of Standards Implementation, and the Division of Partnership Investments and Agreements. Alan serves as a principal advisor to the Director, Office of Partnerships and the Assistant Commissioner for Partnerships and Policy on all matters pertaining to ORA's partnership programs with state, local, tribal, and territorial regulatory jurisdictions and public health and regulatory associations.
During his 24-year career at FDA, Alan has also served as a Microbiologist in FDA’s Southeast Regional Laboratory, a Regional Retail Food Specialist in FDA’s Southeast Region State Cooperative Programs Branch, a Training Officer in ORA’s Office of Training, Education, and Development (OTED), and a Retail Food Program Specialist in OP’s Division of Standards Implementation. Alan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Berry College in Rome, GA. He is a 2008 graduate of the Atlanta Federal Executive Board’s Leadership Government Program, and 2018 graduate of the Federal Executive Institute’s Leadership in a Democratic Society program. Alan is also active in his community having served from 2007 – 2011 as a city councilmember in Milton, GA.
Jennifer Thomas, Senior Advisor, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Jennifer Thomas works for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of the Center Director, where she is a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs. She is also the lead within CFSAN for FSMA implementation and co-chair of the FDA FSMA Steering Committee. Prior to her current role, Ms. Thomas worked in FDA in different capacities related to compliance and enforcement, including CFSAN’s Office of Compliance/Division of Enforcement and Compliance Policy Staff; and the Office of Regulatory Affairs/Baltimore District Office.
Randy Treadwell, Program Manager, Rapid Response and Emergency Management Program, Washington Department of Agriculture
Randy currently serves as the Rapid Response and Emergency Management Program Manager for the Washington State Department of Agriculture. He also serves on the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Board of Directors as Secretary/Treasurer and prior to that, Regional Director for the western states. Randy is currently President of the Western Association of Food and Drug Officials (WAFDO). Prior to his current role at WSDA, Randy served as Rapid Response Coordinator and as a food and dairy field inspector with WSDA in E. Washington. Before joining WSDA in 2009, Randy earned his Master of Public Health degree from the University of Washington while working as a clinical laboratory technician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Randy lives in Spokane, WA with his wife, 3 year old human daughter, and four fur children.
Christopher Waggener, Phd, Lead Scientist, Virginia Department Of General Services Dr. Waggener is the Lead Scientist for the Food Microbiology Laboratory and Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Training Center and microbiological activities at Virginia’s Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS). He earned a B.S. in biology from Hampden-Sydney College and earned a Ph.D. in Integrative Life Sciences from Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Waggener oversees and manages all grant related activities for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) FERN Microbiology Cooperative Agreement Programs at DCLS. He also teaches and operates one of the two USDA Food Safety Inspection Services (FSIS) FERN National Training Centers. In this role, Dr. Waggener coordinates training and serves as a subject matter expert for the detection of foodborne pathogens and biothreat agents using FERN methods in food for federal, state, and local FERN scientists. He has enjoyed developing new courses and new integrative pedagogical styles in which students gain food microbiological knowledge. Dr. Waggener also serves as the technical supervisor for the Food Microbiology Laboratory, oversees the FDA ISO/IEC 17025 grant, and associated grant activities.
Kathryn Wangsness, MHA, Quality Assurance Manager, Arizona State Public Health Laboratory
Kathryn Wangsness is Chief and Quality Assurance Manager for the Office of Laboratory Services at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Since 1997, she held positions as a water chemist, blood alcohol consultant, federal/state laboratory licensure surveyor, and quality assurance manager. Since 2008, Ms. Wangsness has served as Chief for the Office of Laboratory Services while also continuing in her role as Quality Assurance Manager. She is an approved EPA certification officer for inspecting inorganics, organics, and microbiology compliance testing in drinking water laboratories. She assisted the laboratory in becoming ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited. Ms. Wangsness is also an alumnus of the APHL Emerging Leader Program and participates in the Network of Laboratory Leaders Alumni (NOLLA). She has been trained in continuous quality improvement strategies such as Lean.
Brett Weed, Project Officer, Office of Partnerships, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Brett is a Lead Project Officer in the FDA Office of Partnerships. Prior to joining OP, he spent five years as a State Liaison in the FDA Atlanta District and as Compliance and Preparedness Administrator for the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Before his career in government, he was a Department of Homeland Security ORISE Fellow at the University of North Carolina. He completed his undergraduate studies at East Carolina University, holds an MS in Biochemistry and an MPH in Public Health Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently completing a doctorate in Health Policy at Johns Hopkins University.